


Caught in a Dream

by BarPurple



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Dreams and Nightmares, F/M, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-11
Updated: 2017-11-11
Packaged: 2019-01-31 23:18:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12692238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BarPurple/pseuds/BarPurple
Summary: Belle has not been sleeping well for weeks, she's almost at her wits end when Ruby gives her a dreamcatcher. Which works better than Belle could have hoped.





	Caught in a Dream

Belle lay in bed and stared at the square of moonlight on the ceiling. She was exhausted, but not willing to close her eyes and give into sleep. For the past few weeks she’d been having the most vivid dreams. They had started as unsettling nightmares that she’d wake from with a gasp and a pounding heart, but over time they had turned pleasanter, but the dark undercurrents had still been there. She’d wake up tired, as if she hadn’t slept at all. The restless nights were catching up with her, she’d dozed off twice in the library today, and it had only been thanks to Ruby nudging her awake that had prevented Mayor Mills catching sleeping on the job. She couldn’t go on like this, so she’d booked an appointment to see Doc Smallman tomorrow. She wasn’t keen on the idea of sleeping pills, but she loved her job and didn’t want to lose it. She just had to get through tonight and then come tomorrow she’d finally get some proper rest.

She shifted onto her side and smiled at the web of shadow the moonlight cast on the wall. This morning Ruby had given her a dreamcatcher, with the words, “I don’t know if it will keep the bad dreams away, but it’s worth a try, right?”

It was a very pretty shade of blue and did look nice hanging from Belle’s bedroom ceiling. There was something soothing about the way it caught the breeze from the open window and span gently from its cord. The patterns of its web danced over the wall and Belle’s eyelids began to droop. Her last conscious thought as she drifted into sleep was to wonder what the web would catch during the night.

 

Rumple was a Dream Imp, had been for all four hundred years of his life. He specialised in nightmares and dark dreams, and enjoyed his work. He’d inspired madness in some, and others to great feats of creation, some of the darkest art in the human world could be traced back to him, well it would be if humans had any idea of his existence. He didn’t mind that his contribution was unknown, he preferred the safety of the shadows. Some of his fellow Imps had become obsessed with certain humans, to the point of revealing themselves, it never ended well for Imp or human. Rumple had never understood what had driven them to such a foolish action. Until he had met Belle.

A few weeks ago, her name had appeared on his scroll, and he’d slipped into her bedroom to bring her a nightmare. Her reaction to the images he’d conjured in her slumbering mind had been shocking. In all his years nobody had been able to twist free from his weavings and escape the dreamscapes he created. True she had woken in tangled sheets and a sheen of sweat, but she’d done so long before he’d intended to let the nightmare end. She’d wrestled control from him and bested him. At first, he’d been frustrated and angry, emotions which did not bode well for the next name on his scroll. He visited Belle again the next night and suffered the same problem, she had cast him out of her mind long before the true terror of the nightmare had played out. Rumple was not used to failing, it was an uncomfortable experience, but oddly inspiring. Without realising he’d fallen into the rut of routine over the long years, now thanks to Belle he had to try something new.

He returned night after night, weaving gentler nightmares that were closer to sweet dreams, slowly introducing disquiet and fear. Belle didn’t wake as quickly from these, but if he pushed to fast she would snap the connection his Impish abilities formed. Rumple hadn’t worked so hard in centuries. His determination to give Belle a nightmare she would remember for the rest of her days had consumed him. He only had energy for Belle, he’d been ignoring the new names that appeared on his scroll, telling himself he’d catch up once he’d succeeded with Belle.

He trod the now familiar path through the shadows into her room. He had plans for tonight’s dream, he finally felt confident enough to up the terror. This was going to be the night Belle woke up screaming, he was sure of it. In his eager confidence his was blind to the new addition to Belle’s room. The shadow webs of the dreamcatcher reacted to his presence, shifting and ensnaring him until he was bound tightly. Rumple cursed and spat, but only succeeded in tangling himself further. He sagged with a sigh, this was such a rookie mistake. The other Imps would laugh themselves sick once they heard about this, and they would hear of it, because he would have to call one of them to get him out of this mess. Rumple ground his teeth together, the only other Imp he knew was in the locale was Blue, a twinkly sugar-sweet Imp who only wove saccharine dreams. She would be infuriatingly smug about his predicament.

His eyes were drawn to Belle’s sleeping form. There was another way out of this for him, it was risky, but when he weighed it up against calling Blue for a rescue it was the better option. Before he could talk himself out of this crazy idea he took a deep breath and called out.

“Belle! Belle wake up!”

Belle had been sleeping peacefully when someone called her name. She grumbled and tried to slip back to sleep, but the voice wasn’t shutting up. With a wide yawn she forced her eyes open, and screamed. The scaly figure bound by dark ropes in the corner of her room rolled its golden eyes.

“Oh, now you can scream, wonderful. Well as you are finally awake, would you be so kind as to remove that nasty thing from you ceiling?”

Belle rubbed at her eyes, but the creature didn’t disappear. She gave herself a sharp pinch. The creature rolled it’s eyes again.

“Yes, yes, dearie, you are awake, and I am really here, and still very trapped.”

It gave the dreamcatcher a pointed look, and Belle found herself standing up on her bed to unhook it from the ceiling. He fingers almost reached it when she stopped and dropped down to turn the bedside lamp on. The creature hissed at the sudden brightness, but did look to be distressed by the light. Belle sat on the edge of her bed and stared at it, or was it a him? She wasn’t too sure, but she did recognize him. She jabbed a finger towards him; “You! You have been in my dreams. Who, what are you?”

Rumple blinked in surprise; “I’m a Dream Imp, and how the hell did you see me in your dreams?”

Belle folded her arms across her chest and glared at him, if he’d been able to move he would have backed up a touch. She looked furious and it was all directed at him. Oh dear.

“I have the impression that you are the one who will be asking the questions?”

Belle gave him a bright smile and settled herself more comfortably on the bed; “Damn right. So, lets start with your name?”

Oh dear, he was in so much trouble.


End file.
